Baseball and softball players regularly use batting tees to support the ball during batting practice. However, known batting tees are generally unstable, in that they fall down relatively easily when the player hits the ball too low and touches the tee with the bat. This results in loss of time for the player every time the tee needs to be put back into the upright position, thus taking away from a player's limited practice time. In addition, unstable tees generally have a relatively short useful life, as they are subject to being damaged every time they fall down.
In addition, known batting tees typically include a ball supports which hides a significant portion of the ball being supported, thus increasing the chances of the batting tee being hit when a player attempts to hit the ball.
A number of designs have been proposed to improve the stability of batting tees. However, such designs are generally complex and/or make the tee more bulky to transport. It has been known to provide a batting tee in two or more pieces that can be separated for transport; however the separate pieces generally increase the risk of loosing one or more the tee components, thus rendering it unusable.
Accordingly, improvements are sought.